U.S. Has Arrest Warrant for Iraq’s New Oil Minister

The intelligence agent who masterminded Iraq’s secret arms-buying network in the United States and Europe has been appointed oil minister by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Safa Jawad Habubi, named oil minister last weekend, was indicted two years ago for his role in an Atlanta bank scandal, and Justice Department officials said there is a warrant for his arrest.

Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.), chairman of the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee, said Thursday that he has asked Secretary of State Warren Christopher to forbid Habubi from entering the United States and to block any attempt by the Iraqis to use him as a negotiator at the United Nations.

A State Department official said that Habubi will not be protected by diplomatic immunity if he enters the United States. He also said the State Department would probably block any attempt by Habubi to get a visa to visit the United Nations.

Iraq is now seeking U.N. permission to resume oil sales. The United Nations has blocked the exports until Iraq discloses full details about its weapons programs.

According to U.S. intelligence reports and criminal charges in Atlanta, Habubi played a central role in helping Iraq obtain Western technology for its weapons programs in the years before the Persian Gulf War.

Habubi was also one of four Iraqi government officials indicted in 1991 in connection with $5 billion in illegal loans to Iraq by the Atlanta office of Italy’s Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. None of the Iraqis have been brought to trial, and Justice Department spokesman John Russell said that arrest warrants exist for all of them.